W UBW.I 

Of-  rue  JAN 

OltlVEa&tir  Of  ILLINOIS 


BULLETIN  of  the 

Untorattg  nf  Binxth  (ffawliua 


The  School  Library 


By  Patterson  Wardlaw 


ISSUED  QUARTERLY 
BY  THE  UNIVERSITY 

No.  41 
Part  II 
April,  1915 

COLUMBIA,  S.  C. 

Second-Class  Mail  Matter 


THE  UNIVERSITY  PRESS.  COLUMBIA.  S.  C 


THE  SCHOOL  LIBRARY. 


cnsi.  33 

VVO-.66  s 


Shall  We  Have  One? 


That  depends  on  what  you  wish  your  school  to  be.  Are 
you  willing  for  it  to  remain  unequipped,  lacking  the  most 
important  piece  of  apparatus  next  to  seats  and  blackboard? 
Do  you  wish  it  to  stand  still  while  everything  else  is  moving 
forward?  Would  you  have  it  turn  its  back  on  a great 
opportunity  that  is  almost  thrust  upon  it?  Do  you  feel 
that  it  is  worth  no  effort  to  make  the  lives  of  your  children 
fuller  and  richer?  Do  you  wish  them  to  remain  slaves  to 
an  environment  little  wider  than  the  range  of  their  five 
senses  and  the  senses  of  their  neighbors?  If  so,  you  do 
not  want  a library. 

If,  on  the  other  hand,  you  feel  that  your  children  should 
have  as  good  a chance  as  any  others;  if  you  desire  them  to 
get  that  whole  schooling  of  which  the  work  of  teacher  and 
textbook  is  only  half;  if  you  wish  to  sharpen  their  wits, 
increase  their  intellectual  power,  and  ennoble  their  ideas 
by  contact  with  the  brightest,  the  strongest,  and  the  best 
minds  of  all  the  world;  if  you  would  like  to  put  within 
their  reach  one  of  the  keenest,  least  expensive,  most 
refining  and  elevating  means  of  pleasure;  finally,  if  you 
would  see  your  school  a source  and  center  of  quickening 
and  light  to  the  whole  community,  you  cannot  afford  to 
wait  another  session  for  a school  library. 


What  Books  Shall  We  Buy? 


Choose,  of  course,  from  the  excellent  list  of  the  State 
Board.  Buy,  first  of  all,  books  which  will  interest  the 
children,  which  they  will  read  for  pleasure.  Be  sure  to 
get  some  books  for  the  smallest  tots,  and  some  tales  of 
fighting,  hunting,  and  travel  for  the  boys  of  the  “wild- 
Indian  age.”  Books  for  higher  tastes  and  works  of 
reference  may  follow  later. 


4 


The  School  Library. 


How  Shall  I Use  the  Library? 

The  getting  is  merely  a start.  Buying  a tool  is  not  doing 
the  work.  To  use  the  library  successfully  will  call  for 
your  strongest  effort  and  highest  skill.  The  best  teacher 
in  the  school  should  be  the  librarian.  How  can  this  great 
work  be  done  successfully?  At  request,  I make  such 
suggestions  as  I can  in  answer  to  this  question: 

The  first  thing  to  do  is  to  set  definitely  before  your  mind 
the  aim  of  your  library  work.  The  main  purpose  undoubt- 
edly, is  to  cultivate  in  pupils  a love  for  good  reading. 

Next,  make  a study  of  the  reading  tastes  of  children. 
Learn  their  favorites,  not  as  the  fisherman  learns  the 
worms  that  the  fish  will  bite,  but  as  the  housekeeper 
knows  the  viands  that  will  please  her  guests,  because 
they  please  herself.  That  is,  develop  in  yourself  a love 
for  children’s  books  and  a familiarity  with,  at  least,  the 
chief  favorites  of  the  library.  Suppose  you  resolve  to 
read  one  child’s  book  every  fortnight  of  the  next  session. 

In  cultivating  children’s  tastes,  begin  early.  Tell  good 
stories  to  the  youngest;  read  good  stories  to  the  others, 
and  soon  they  will  want  to  read  stories  for  themselves. 
No  school  program  is  so  crowded  that  it  cannot  afford  two 
or  three  periods  a week  for  reading  to  the  children.  This 
reading  will  pay , not  only  in  the  finer  culture,  but  in  actual 
progress  in  the  other  studies. 

Be  ready  to  help  pupils  find  books  to  their  liking,  but 
let  the  selection  be  their  own.  This,  of  course,  takes  for 
granted  that  you  have  not  any  impure  books  in  your 
library;  no  others  can  hurt.  Gain  the  pupils’  confidence 
in  your  suggestions  by  never  fooling  them  into  reading 
something  profitable  under  pretense  that  it  is  interesting. 
If,  against  your  advice,  a pupil  insists  on  taking  a book 
that  is  “over  his  head,”  let  him  try  it.  The  best  way  to 
convince  him  that  he  cannot  jump  to  the  moon  is  to  let 
him  jump.  The  experiment  will  hurt  neither  him  nor  the 
moon,  but  it  will  increase  his  respect  for  your  judgment. 

Have  attractive  books  within  easy  reach  during  school 
hours,  that  the  pupils  may  read  in  odd  minutes  not  required 
for  their  lessons.  It  is  easier  to  prevent  abuse  of  this 


The  School  Library. 


5 


privilege  than  to  dispense  with  the  use  of  it  as  a promoter 
of  order,  to  say  nothing  of  its  direct  fruits.  In  this  way 
many  will  get  a start  toward  becoming  readers,  who 
otherwise  would  never  taste  the  good  of  books. 

Enlist  the  enthusiasm  of  the  home.  Encourage  children 
to  take  books  for  their  parents  to  read.  Do  all  that  you 
can  to  get  parents  interested  in  the  children’s  own  read- 
ing. Let  the  younger  take  books  for  the  parents  to  read 
to  them.  Make  the  school  library  a neighborhood  library. 

Sometimes,  in  school,  lead  the  children  into  an  informal 
talk  about  the  books  that  they  have  read  and  like  best.  It 
is  remarkable  how  the  contagion  of  interest  will  spread. 
Don’t  let  an  opportunity  pass  of  having  a pupil  illustrate 
a point  in  the  lesson  by  something  that  he  has  read. 

Read  part  of  an  interesting  book  to  the  class,  and  then 
tell  them  that  they  can  finish  by  taking  it  from  the  library. 

With  older  pupils,  supplement  the  classwork  frequently, 
though  not  in  large  doses,  by  assigning  parallel  reading. 

In  conclusion,  permit  me  to  urge  that  you  do  not  treat 
this  library  work  as  a'  side-issue.  None  of  your  classes 
surpass  it  in  importance.  The  prime  mission  of  our  schools 
is  to  effect  a general  uplift  of  character.  No  part  of  our 
work  can  accomplish  so  much  in  this  direction  as  the  culti- 
vation of  a taste  for  good  reading.  Since  our  ideals  are 
shaped  by  the  company  we  keep,  it  must  be  of  tremen- 
dous consequence  that  our  children  form  such  intimate 
associations  with  the  noblest  of  earth  as  are  possible  only 
thru  the  favorite  author.  Let  me  guide  the  interest  of  a 
child,  and  I will  form  his  ideals;  give  me  the  making  of 
his  ideals,  and  I will  make  or  blast  his  character. 

It  was  much  more  than  half  the  truth  that  some  one 
uttered:  “Let  fathers  and  mothers  choose  pleasure-books 
for  their  children,  and  they  need  care  little  who  chooses 
their  textbooks.”  Even  so  shrewdly  practical  an  American 
as  President  Eliot  quotes,  with  approval,  “The  uplifting 
of  the  democratic  masses  depends  upon  the  implanting  at 
schools  of  a taste  for  good  reading.” 


6 


The  School  Library. 


How  to  Get  a Library  in  Every  Rural  School. 

We  can  assume,  then,  that  the  library  is  an  indispensa- 
ble element  of  teaching.  I go  further  and  assume  that  all 
agree  that  a neatly  cased  set  of  attractive  books  is  one  of 
the  essential  ornaments  of  the  school  house.  On  one  plank 
of  the  educational  platform  all  must  stand:  A library  in 
every  school  in  South  Carolina.  The  only  question  is,  How 
shall  we  get  it? 

Suppose  you  have  taken  charge  of  a school  that  shows 
no  vestige  of  a library,  in  a community  that  has  no  con- 
ception of  the  need  of  one.  Your  first  task  is  to  begin 
overcoming  the  strangeness  of  the  idea  and  creating  a 
demand  for  books.  Make  the  start  yourself.  Probably 
you  have  some  reading  books,  histories,  and  geographies 
other  than  your  regular  textbooks,  also  some  good  maga- 
azines  and  story  books.  Take  these  as  the  nucleus  of  your 
library.  The  exercise  of  a little  skill  will  start  children  to 
reading  the  stories  or  looking  at  the  pictures  for  pleasure, 
and  will  make  the  older  pupils  feel  the  advantage  of  paral- 
lel references  in  geography  and  history.  Once  create  in 
the  children  a taste  for  more  books,  and  the  library  is 
pretty  sure  to  come.  Suggest  to  the  pupils  to  lend  their 
own  nice  books  to  the  school  for  their  classmates  to  read. 
The  pride  of  ownership  will  often  lead  them  to  do  so. 

In  some  homes  there  are  old  magazines  which  the  house- 
keeper, tho  unwilling  to  destroy,  would  be  glad  to  put 
out  of  the  way.  These  may  be  obtained  for  the  school 
thru  newspaper  notice  or  private  request.  Frequently 
“lend-a-hand”  friends  will  be  found  who  will  gladly  send 
current  periodicals  regularly,  as  soon  as  read. 

While,  as  I have  pointed  out,  you  should  start  with 
acting,  you  had  better  follow  this  up  with  talking.  Plead 
that  the  opportunity  offered  by  the  State  Library  law  be 
not  thrown  away.  Ask  Trustees,  patrons  and  public- 
spirited  people  in  general  to  subscribe.  Emphasize  the 
importance  of  a library  as  a necessary  piece  of  school 
equipment.  Be  sure  to  tell  them  what  others  are  doing. 
Exhort  them  not  to  be  left  behind.  Impress  the  fact  that 
it  is  the  regular,  decent  thing  to  have  a library.  Ask  why 


The  School  Library. 


7 


their  children  should  not  enjoy  as  good  advantages  as 
others.  Write  to  the  State  Superintendent  of  Education 
for  literature  on  the  subject,  and  distribute  it  among  your 
patrons. 

Start  the  children  to  talking  for  you.  This  is  easy 
enough  when  once  you  have  got  them  to  love  reading. 

While  they  will  be  your  best  advocates,  their  success 
will  be  greatly  enhanced  by  getting  the  homefolks 
interested  in  the  library  on  their  own  account.  Encourage 
the  pupils  to  take  books  which  the  parents  will  like  to  read. 
If  practicable,  organize  a Literary  or  Educational  Society, 
whose  meetings  shall  be  held  at  the  school  house.  Its 
work  will  bring  about  a demand  for  books,  and  you  may 
secure  the  aid  of  its  members  by  proposing  a combined 
school  and  neighborhood  library.  Be  sure,  however,  that 
it  contains  a fair  proportion  of  books  that  the  young 
children  will  read  for  mere  enjoyment. 

These  means,  if  backed  by  satisfactory  class  work, 
ought  surely  to  be  sufficient  to  raise  the  $10  requisite  for 
State  aid;  but  whether  you  can  raise  it  or  not,  obtain  all 
the  money  possible  in  this  and  other  legitimate  ways. 
Though- you  should  get  only  $1.00,  that  would  make  a really 
profitable  start. 

The  end  will  justify  a school  entertainment.  Have 
on  its  program  a short , ringing  address  in  favor  of  the 
library  by  some  speaker  of  influence.  Stir  up  the  young 
people  of  the  neighborhood  to  give  some  sort  of  musical, 
theatrical,  or  other  entertainment  for  the  benefit  of  the 
library.  I have  known  children  to  take  interest  in  bring- 
ing contributions  from  home  to  a “hot  supper,”  whose 
proceeds  were  to  buy  books.  It  is  reported  that  at  one 
school  each  pupil  brought  a weekly  contribution  of  an  egg, 
to  be  sold  for  the  library  cause. 

Don’t  forget  that  every  cent  counts. 

There  are  certain  public  documents  which,  though  not 
exactly  the  kind  of  books  that  you  would  spend  money  for, 
are  well  worth  getting  free. 

The  United  States  Agricultural  Reports  and  Bulletins 
would  furnish  reading,  both  instructive  and  interesting,  to 
fathers  and  mothers.  Other  useful  national  publications 


8 


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The  School  Library. 

may  be  obtained  thru  your  Congressman.  Sometimes  the 
State  of  South  Carolina  has  valuable  works  for  free  distri- 
bution. Be  on  the  alert  for  everything  of  this  class.  The 
bulletins  of  the  colleges  in  the  State  may  be  had  for  the 
asking.  The  conclusion  of  the  whole  matter  is  that  the 
school  that  has  not  some  sort  of  a library  is  inexcusable. 

Be  ashamed,  then,  to  have  taught  a school  one  session 
and  leave  it  without  a library. 


